CAMPAIGN OF THE MONTH: Learning Curve Chuggington

Sold to 168 countries worldwide, the Cbeebies series is set in the fictional land of Chuggington, and follows the adventures of three trainee locomotives or ‘chuggers’ as they are called in the show.

ProductThe result of a strategic development programme, looking for potential sustainable growth drivers for the Learning Curve business, the collaboration with Ludorum has produced an innovative range for the consumer and the toy market as a whole.

The new Chuggington die-cast toy line for three to six-year-olds was developed to deliver train play while reflecting the key destinations and core developmental messages of the CGI series. It features the show’s three young trainee engines, Wilson, Koko and Brewster.

Marketing

A campaign to target pre-school children and mums forms the basis of the marketing programme. This includes well over one-thousand TVRs, an online viral campaign, major in-store promotions and heavy-hitting PR from launch.

Pre-school TV will form the foundation of the Chuggington marketing plan to drive awareness of the range. It will be supported by an extensive online presence, pre-school press advertising and cross-promotions with other brand licensees.

PR

Interviews with the programme’s concept designer and producer/director were arranged to promote the transition from TV series to toy. Working alongside DC Thomson, creative activity includes a series of advertorials, posters, full page competitions and subscription offers.

Norton and Co has implemented an extensive media relations campaign to drive maximum positive awareness of the products among both children and parents via strong relationships with key children’s and parental press, sites and bloggers.

Trio is a brand new concept in building play, which has been developed in Mattel?s Play Lab. The collection comprises a series of construction play packs at a range of different price points and age suitabilities.

January 2011 sees the launch of a brand new theme, Lego Ninjago, within the Lego Portfolio. It offers children aged six and over an entirely new experience that bridges physical action play, Lego product building and interactive online experience, with a ninja theme.

Vivid's JLS Collector Dolls launched in mid-October and are gaining exposure across internet, broadcast, radio, national newspapers and consumer lifestyle magazines. Secured coverage is already looking set to generate a media value of over £1 million by the end of the year...